Drive for rodding machine



Dec. 2, 1969 c. B. CAPERTON 3,480,983

DRIVE FOR RODDING MACHINE Filed Jan. 29, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 AINVENTOR Charles B. Coperfon BY mwwa ATTORNEYS 2, 1969 c. B. CAPERTONDRIVE FOR RODDING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed. Jan. 29, 1969INVENTOR. Charles B. Caperton WW M ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent O 3,480,983 DRIVE FOR RODDING MACHINE Charles B.Caperton, Montgomery Court Apts., Narberth, Pa. 19072Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 613,703, Dec. 30, 1966. Thisapplication Jan. 29, 1969, Ser. No. 794,876 The portion of the term ofthe patent subsequent to Sept. 30, 1986, has been disclaimed Int. Cl.B081) 1/04, 9/06 US. Cl. -1043 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Adrive for a sewer rodding machine is disclosed which includes atorsion-taking arcuate surface, such as the periphery of a driven wheel,around which the rod is passed to drive the rod and also to prevent thetwist of the twisting rod from getting back into the storage reel. Anannular freely-rotatable band surrounds the wheel and embraces the rodon the wheel periphery. Two embodiments are disclosed in one of whichthe wheel and annular band occupy the same plane, and in the other ofwhich the wheel and band are located in planes disposed at a small anglerelative to each other.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is acontinuation-in-part of my copending application, Ser. No. 613,703,filed Dec. 30, 1966, entitled ,Sewer Rodding Machine.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to rodding equipmentof the type used in the cleaning and maintenance of sewer pipes, waterpipes, and other underground conduits and structures.

Sewer pipes, water pipes and the like are customarily cleared ofobstructions by feeding into the pipe steel rod having at its foremostextremity a suitable tool for performing the particular cutting orclearing operation. Such tool may, for example, be an anger bit, a rootsaw, a centrifugal cutter, a pickup, or any other of a large variety oftools especially adapted for the purpose.

The point of obstruction in the pipe may, of course, be far removed fromthe point of entry into the pipe and, accordingly, the tool may be atthe foremost end of a rod whose length may be of the order of 900-1000feet. In some cases, such long length of rod is a continuous piece, butin other cases the rod is comprised of a string of individual solid rodsof A% spring steel stock, each rod being about 39" long, the rods beingcoupled together by suitable couplings. For storing such long length ofsteel rod, either continuous or coupled, when not in use, or fortransporting such rod to another work location, reels have beendeveloped capable of holding 9001000 feet of rodding. Such reels aredesigned to confine the rod in coils or loops of large diameter in orderto avoid bending the rod into a permanent set.

It is, of course, necessary to push the tool into the pipe and towithdraw the tool from the pipe, and for these purposes a power drive isprovided to move the rod in its lengthwise direction. In order for thetool, particularly a cutting tool, to be effective, it is necessary forthe rod to be rotated axially, and a power drive for this purpose isalso provided. If, as the rotating tool progresses forwardly into thepipe an obstruction is encountered, such obstruction will opposerotation of the tool and the speed of rotation of the tool will beslowed down. A torsional stress is then imposed on the rod and a twistwill run back along the rod which, unless prevented, will run all thePatented Dec. 2, 1969 way into the coiled rodding in the storage reel.This tends to distort the loops of stored rod and to cause entanglementthereof.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention toprovide a sewer rodding machine having twist barrier means forisolating, or substantially isolating, the storage reel from thetorsional stress and twisting forces which tend to be set up in the rodas the .rod is driven rotationally into the obstruction in the sewer orother pipe.

It is a further object to provide twist barrier or isolating means asaforesaid for either continuous or coupled rod.

The foregoing objects are achieved in accordance with my presentinvention by providing a torsion-taking annular surface such as a drivenwheel near the storage reel, together with means for confiining the rodon the wheel periphery or other annular surface as the rod passes outfrom or back into the storage reel. In the specific form disclosed inthe present application, the confining means is a freely-rotatableannular band, preferably steel, which surrounds the wheel and is ofsufficiently larger diameter than the wheel to provide an annular spacefor the rod between the inner surface of the annular band and theperipheral surface of the wheel. In one embodiment, the band and wheeloccupy the same plane. In another embodiment, the band and the wheeloccupy planes which are slightly angularly disposed relative to eachother.

IN THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a plan view of a portion of .a rodding machinehaving, in accordance with the present invention, a torsion-taking wheeldriven to drive the rod and having a freely rotatable annular steel bandwhich embraces and confines the rod on the wheel periphery;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view taken along the line IIII of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view in section along the line III-III of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a portion of a rodding machine showing analternate form in which the confining band lies in a plane disposed at asmall angle relative to the plane of the wheel;

FIG. 5 is the side elevational view taken along the line V-V of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the pusher dog pushing the rod coupler;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of one of the pusher dogs at the peripheryof the Wheel.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIGS. 1-3 illustrate a form ofrodding machine incorporating the present invention and suitable for usewith continuous rod. FIGS. 4-7 illustrate a form suitable for coupledrod.

FIG. 1 shows a fragmentary portion of a rodding machine of the typeshown in FIG. 12 of my co-pending patent application Ser. No. 613,703.In this form of rodding machine, a frame 12 carrying a storage reel 14is mounted for rotation in a base structure 15. The frame 12 isrotatable on trunnions, one of which is shown at 17, about an axis whichruns horizontally across the drawing in FIG. 1. Fixed in the frame 12 isa cross shaft 16 which carries a first sleeve 21 and a second sleeve 22.Keyed to sleeve 21 is a bevel gear 23 which meshes with a second bevelgear 24 which is keyed to a drive shaft 25. The inward end of sleeve 21is secured, as by bolts or welding, to the hub portion of a circulardrive wheel 30, so that when drive shaft 25 drives the sleeve 21rotationally, the drive wheel 30 is driven rotationally about the axisof the cross shaft 16.

The inward end of sleeve 22 is connected to a plate 35 which isconnected as by welding to the storage reel 14. Thus, storage reel 14 ismounted for free rotation about the axis of the cross shaft 16 in aplane parallel and adjacent the plane of rotation of the drive wheel 30.

Fixed to the rotatable frame 12 is a spider 26 to the inward end ofwhich is secured, as by welding or by bolts, an annular guard 27 ofL-shaped cross section, as best seen in FIG. 3, the flange portion ofwhich is identified as 27a. Secured, as by welding, to the flangeportion 27a of guard 27 are guard members 38, also of L-shaped crosssection, as seen in FIG. 3. The guard 27 is shown as, and preferably is,a continuous annular band. The guard member 38 may likewise be acontinuous annular band, but for the purpose of conserving material, maybe segmented, and is so illustrated, four separate segments being shown.

The diameter of the annular guard 27 is substantially larger than thediameter of the drive wheel 30, thereby providing a space for receivingthe annular confining band 31 and for receiving rollers 29 which bearagainst the outer surface of the annular confining band. The confiningband, while of lesser diameter than the guard 27 is of sufficientlygreater diameter than the drive wheel 30 to leave an annular space 33for receiving the continuous rod 20.

The rod in the storage reel 14 is introduced on to the periphery of thedrive wheel through a tubular guide eye 32 formed in segment 38a of theguard 38. As indicated in FIG. 3, the continuous rod 20 may be woundabout the periphery of the drive wheel 30 more than One time, if desiredor necessary. The rod leaves the wheel 30, when being driven forwardtoward the work (such as the sewer obstruction) by passing through aguide eye 34 formed in the guard segment 380.

In operation, when the drive wheel 30 is driven rotationally in theclockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 2, the rod 20 in the storage reel14 (Which has previously been threaded through the guide eye 32 on tothe periphery 30a of the drive wheel 30 in the space 33 under theannular band 31, and out through the guide eye 34) is pulled byfrictional engagement with the peripheral surface of the drive wheel andis delivered from the drive wheel through a guide tube 34, the rodmoving toward the left as viewed in FIG. 2. It will be appreciated thatin pulling the rod 20 from the reel, the rod tends to form a smallerdiameter circle and, accordingly, tends to maintain tight frictionalengagement with the periphery 30a of the drive wheel, and the rod may ormay not engage the surface of the band 31 sufliciently to causesubstantial rotational movement of the band. This is not important.When, however, the rotating tool at the forward end of the rod 20 meetsan obstruction, resistance to forward progress of rod 20 is encounteredand the rod tends to form a larger diameter circle, and in this casebears heavily and frictionally against the inner surface of the annularband 31. Band 31 then moves with the rod and operates to confine the rodwithin the space 32. The rollers 29 function to maintain the circularconfiguration of the band 31, and at the same time allow for therotational movement of the band 31 without introducing any opposingfriction force.

A modified form of the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 4-7. InFIGS. 4-7, the storage reel which is not shown may be assumed to belocated to the left of the drive wheel 130, or alternatively the storagereel may be mounted for free rotation on the shaft 138 of the drivewheel, generally similar to the arrangement shown in FIG. 1.

In FIGS. 47, instead of having the band and drive wheel occupy the samevertical plane, the confining band 131 is canted, that is, it occupies aplane which has a slight angular relationship to the plane of the drivewheel 130. This arrangement provides the necessary opening to allow therod 120 to enter and leave the peripheral surface of the wheel 130.

In FIGS. 4-7, the rod 120 is coup-led rod, and to drive the coupled roddogs 121 of hardened metal are provided at spaced-apart intervals on theperiphery of the wheel. To allow for driving the rod 120 in bothdirections, the dogs 121 are provided in pairs, identified as 121a and121b, with the dogs of the pair facing each other with a spacingtherebetween longer in length than the length of the coupler 122,preferably one and a half or two times as long. Between the pairs ofdogs 121a, 121b, the peripheral rim of the drive wheel 130 is providedwith outward flanges 123 forming therebetween a channel 124 forreceiving the rod 120.

Embracing the Wheel 1330 and substantially concentric therewith is thecanted confining band 131 occupying a plane slightly angularly disposedrelative to the plane of the wheel 130 forming an open peripheral area139 where the rim of the wheel 130 is uncovered and available to receiveor discharge the rod 120.

The annular band 131 is made sufliciently wider than the wheel 130 sothat that portion of the rim of the wheel which is not employed forentry or discharge of the rod is fully covered by the band 131.

The annular band is supported by the flanges 123 and is free to movewith the wheel 130. Means are provided for maintaining the band 131 atits intended angular position relative to the wheel 130. In FIGS. 4-5,such means are shown to be two sets of rollers 132 and 133, one set oneach side of the band 131, each set consisting of four rollers spacedapart and facing the band 131. The rollers are mounted on plates 134 and135 fixed to the frame of the machine, and the hubs 136 and 137 of theplates support the drive shaft 138 which drives the wheel 130. Theplates 134 and 135 may, for example, be supported on spiders fixed tothe frame in a manner generally similar to spider 26 and frame 12 ofFIG. 1. Where the storage cage is adjacent to and coaxial with the wheel130, as in FIG. 1, only one plate 135, and only one spider, would beemployed, and in lieu of a plate on the cage side, an annular ring wouldbe employed supported as by brackets from plate 135 which overhang theperiphery of the wheel 130 and overhang the band 131, and the rollers132 on the cage side would be supported on the ring.

Referring again to FIGS. 47, in operation, the shaft 138 is driven todrive the wheel 130. If the wheel 130 is driven in a clockwise directionas viewed in FIG. 5, the dog 121a will engage the coupler 122 and thecoupled rod will be pulled clockwise around the drive wheel 130. Thus,the rod will enter and leave the wheel in the directions indicated bythe arrows in FIG. 5.

Assume that the rod 120 is being fed by the rotating wheel 130 into anobstructed sewer line, and that, to turn the tool at the forward end ofthe rod, the wheel 130 is being rotated about the horizontal axis A(FIG. 5) perpendicular to the axis of shaft 138, as by a rotatable framecorresponding to frame 12 of FIG. 1. It will be seen that when the toolmeets the obstruction, the rod 120 on the wheel 130 will tend to form anenlarged loop and will tend to leave the peripheral surface of thewheel. This is prevented, however, by the annular band 131 whichfunctions to confine the rod 120 to the wheel 130. Since the band 131 isfree to rotate with the wheel, frictional impedance to movement of therod in its axial direction is avoided.

When the rod is to be withdrawn from the sewer or other conduit, thewheel 130, in the present illustration, is driven in the opposite orcounterclockwise direction, and the couplers 122 are engaged by the dogs122b, which face in the opposite direction and which are spaced fromdogs 121a by a distance equal to 1 /2 to 2 times the length of acoupler.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for clearing obstructions in sewers and the like,including:

(a) a base structure,

(b) a rotatable frame mounted for rotation in said base structure,

(c) a storage reel for rod,

(d) combined drive and twist barrier means mounted on said rotatableframe near to said storage reel for driving the rod in its axialdirection, for rotating the rod axially, and for preventing the twistingof the rod from being transferred back into said storage reel,

(c) said combined drive and twist barrier means including a drivenannular surface for driving said rod axially and an annular confiningband surrounding said annular surface for confining said rod on saidannular surface and free to rotate therewith.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 characterized in that said annularsurface comprises the peripheral rim of a driving wheel and in that saidconfining band comprises an annular band concentric with said wheel ofslightly larger diameter than said wheel and occupying the same plane assaid Wheel.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 characterized in that retaining meansare provided for retaining said annular band in substantially concentricposition.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 characterized in that said retainingmeans includes roller means disposed in a concentric circle outside saidannular band.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1 characterized in that said annularsurface comprises the rim of a driving wheel and in that said confining"band comprises an annular band concentric with said driving wheel andof slightly larger diameter than said driving wheel and occupying aplane angularly disposed relative to the plane of said driving wheel.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5 characterized in that retaining meansare provided for retaining said annular band in its angular position.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 characterized in that said retainingmeans include roller means.

7/1963 Stewart. 6/ 1966 Caperton.

EDWARD L. ROBERTS, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 242-54

